The Cincinnati Bengals hit the offseason with plenty of cap space, yet have ways to create even more.
One way is cuts. Another, though not very Bengals-like, is to chop up big contracts via restructures, shifting payments into signing bonuses.
As we pointed out last week, the Kansas City Chiefs just did another major one with Patrick Mahomes, making it the fourth year in a row they’ve done so.
Joe Burrow tops the list of possible contract restructure candidates for the Bengals, as expected.
As helpfully illustrated by SFdata9ers, here’s where the Bengals rank in possible cap savings via typical restructures:
How much cap space could each NFL team free up with simple restructures?
1. DAL $131M
2. DET $128M
3. KC $109M
...
32. PHI $0.2M 😅
Data: @Jason_OTC (02/11/2026)
A simple restructure converts payments into prorated signing bonuses spread over the remaining years of the… pic.twitter.com/knNG9kAbzB
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The big Bengals contract restructure candidates and the cap savings amount, per Over the Cap:
- QB Joe Burrow: $19.2 million
- WR Tee Higgins: $13.2 million
- WR Ja’Marr Chase: $13.3 million
There are other chunk candidates in there, such as defensive tackle BJ Hill ($3.4 million), but the big three are, in fact, the big three in this regard, too.
This isn’t something the Bengals go out of their way to do often. But modernizing a little bit in this regard could give them even more cap space to spread across the roster, especially on a defense that needs plenty of help.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals contract restructures could provide boost to cap space